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Zoning plan released for new high-tech school on Staten Island's South Shore

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An artist's rendering of the new, state-of-the-art PS 62, under construction at the corner of Woodrow and Bloomingdale roads on Staten Island's South Shore. The Department of Education is seeking public comments on the zoning plan proposed for the school, which is set to open in the fall of 2015.
(Department of Education)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Members of the Community Education Council (CEC) and the Department of Education (DOE) are seeking input from South Shore parents and community residents on a preliminary re-zoning plan for the new PS 62 in Rossville.

The school is under construction at Woodrow and Bloomingdale roads. It's scheduled to open in the fall of 2015, beginning with pre-k and kindergarten classes. Each year an additional grade will be added until 2020, when the school is expected to serve 450 to 550 students from pre-k through fifth grade.

The proposed plan would impact families in areas currently zoned for PS 56, Rossville; PS 3, Pleasant Plains, and PS 6, Richmond Valley. However, families who already have students in those schools would be able to enroll siblings there.

The new zone would be bounded by the West Shore Expressay, Drumgoole Road, Foster Road, and Sinclair Avenue.

The idea is to alleviate PS 3's current student load so that the school will be able to serve all students in its main building on South Goff Avenue, and close its annex on the grounds of Mount Loretto. Students are currently bused between the main school and annex at arrival and dismissal, often creating confusion, according to CEC member Michael Reilly.

Some families from PS 6, who actually live closer to the new school, would now be zoned for PS 62, instead of being bused to PS 6 on Page Avenue.

The DOE's Office of Strategic Planning drew up the zoning plan in consultation with the CEC, whose members will vote on the plan at their May meeting.

The school will be one of most environmentally friendly in Northeast. It will house five pre-K and kindergarten classrooms,13 standard classrooms and five more classrooms for special-needs students. Music, art, and science facilities, a combination gym and auditorium, kitchen and cafeteria, an organic vegetable garden and greenhouse will also be located on the grounds.

The high-tech school, sited on 3.5 acres, will generate solar energy from roof panels to heat and cool water that will be used for the heating and air-conditioning systems. A wind turbine will also be used to generate energy.

Called a net-zero energy school, power used at PS 62 will equal the energy it produces. It also will have extra insulation and high-performance windows, to prevent heat or air conditioning from escaping.

"This will be, in my view, the most technologically advanced school in the country," said City Councilman Vincent Ignizio (R-South Shore). "We're proud to have it here on Staten Island."

Ignizio said the South Shore community needs additional school seats: "We're bursting at the seams."